When it comes to bird-watching, or sighting other critters in the wild, I'm often reduced to acting like that annoying guy in the movie theater who doesn't understand what just happened in a big-budget spy thriller.
I'm the one leaning over the person...

Although the government shutdown has ended, the Visitor Center at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge was still closed on my recent visit to this quiet gem, one of almost a dozen national parks and monuments in Florida.
A park volunteer at the...

TITUSVILLE — This city never wanted the space program. Fifty years later, Titusville is getting its wish.
The shuttle is ending, Constellation is canceled, the city is dying, and there is no Buck Rogers from Washington coming to the rescue.
"I...

A group is planning a vigil tomorrow in Indian Harbor Beach to mark the 50th day since the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. Organizer Vicki Impoco said several organizations and dozens of people from all walks of life are expected toÂ participate in the vi

Add another animal-related event to the Valentine's weekend schedule. This comes from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission: The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Brevard County is hosting the second annual Florida Scrub-Jay Festival f

On Saturday, Feb. 12, the first day of Valentine's Day weekend — and Abraham Lincoln's birthday — animal lovers have a huge selection of things to do. Just take a look: Paws in the Park, the SPCA of Central Florida's annual fundraiser, in Lake Eola

A few of you may remember the harsh winter of 2010 in Florida. Through the bitterly cold temperatures, we blogged about an unprecedented rescue effort – in which people sought out to find thousands of sea turtles that had been stunned by the temperatures

This month's free wallpaper download features the launch of Columbia in 1990, framed by sea oats at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. As always, this spectacular photo was made by Orlando Sentinel photographer Red Huber. Download your version of the

Slip on those sunglasses, dig out the sunscreen and load up the kids -- it's vacation time, and we're headed to the beach. Beach-goers continue to be lured to Florida's east coast by the natural setting of New Smyrna Beach.
Quiet New Smyrna Beach has 13 miles of white-sand beach. Its offshore rock ledges create excellent wave breaks -- which surfers love -- and lessen dangerous undertows. National surfing championships are held several times a year at Ponce Inlet, north of New Smyrna. Surfboards and...

With the future of manned NASA missions uncertain, diversions along the Space Coast of Central Florida are becoming less about space and more about the coast.
Not to worry. Towns such as Melbourne, Cocoa Beach and Titusville offer plenty of coast to investigate. Even the geography makes the beach hard to ignore, with Brevard County extending 70 miles from north to south but only a few miles inland at any point.
And, in a rare synergy of technology and nature, the security requirements of the space...